It's great to be a sixteen year old girl!
I'm writing a story by that title. It's based in the post-scarcity future. She will be using her Santa Clause Machine to make a party dress for her sweet sixteen birthday. She has a boyfriend who is just enough older to be exciting. He will be helping her plan her party.
Both she and her boyfriend have attractive flawless bodies, and that isn't at all unusual in this utopian future.
So, why is it great to be sweet sixteen? I need ideas. The reasons can be serious, sweet, or silly.
Comments
As Opposed to What?
"Great" is a comparative adjective. In order to "compare" you need to have something else to compare to.
For example; it's great to be a sixteen-year old girl as compared to being a sixteen-year old boy. Or, It's great to be a sixteen-year old girl as compared to a ten-year old girl. Or, it's great to be a sixteen-year old girl as compared to a sixty-nine-year old man.
Simply saying "it's great to be a sixteen-year old girl" is akin to saying "Make America Great Again." Great as compared to what? Great in way aspect. Great in this usage only grates.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
"Great" isn't a comparitive.
There are the Great Lakes, the great horned owl, the Great Wall, the Great Gatsby, the Great Depression, the great indoors, the great outdoors... the list goes on.
"Greater" is a comparative, but not "great."
So, no comparison. Why is she loving life right now? Why is she looking forward to the next year?
Things like material goods, driving, jobs, and money are moot, so it'll have to be about social things and how she feels about herself and her world.
OR, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE !
OR, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE !
Sorry.
Karen
Or...
Change it to "Why I like being sweet sixteen" or "Why I'm looking forward to being sweet sixteen."
I'll translate it to teen speak from there. ;-)
Ideas
For many states in the USA it is the acquired age to obtaining a drivers license and a greater amount of independence.
Another idea is that it is a milestone to being presented to society as a more mature young woman.
In the USA 16 is usually the age where child labor laws are relaxed so more job openings are available.
16 is the approximate age where students in USA high schools enter their junior year. Some HS sporting activities previously used that grade as a division between junior varsity and varsity participation. This might be a legacy practice as I don't have recent experience with it.
look your best
Because you've reached your full adult height but your skin hasn't had time to wrinkle yet, so you're probably the most attractive you're ever going to be.
boys
Because you've developed enough to attract boys, any your naive enough to think you want to.
Sixteen
At 16 you are still naive and optimistic, hopefully unaware of the the realities & meanness of the adult world.. a feeling of invincibility. What's that expression? "Youth is wasted on the young".
Donna
Yogi Yorgison (sp?)
In one song, he quoted George Bernard Shaw fluttering his old grey eyelids, "Youth is such a precious thing. Too bad it has to be wasted on young kids." I'd love to go back to 16, or even 12, as long as I still knew what I know now. I'd probably want to make sure my TKD skills were up to snuff, though.
-- Daphne Xu
Janis Ian song conveys what you may be looking for
Check the lyrics and see if something works for you. This song was an anthem to many - "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian http://www.metrolyrics.com/at-seventeen-lyrics-janis-ian.html
Donna
Exactly!
Donna T, Daphne Xu, That's exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!
Isn't 16 the age of sexual
Isn't 16 the age of sexual consent in a lot of states in the US ?
Karen
30 out of 60 it's 16, but of
30 out of 60 it's 16, but of those that have 17 and 18 year old age of consent laws there are many that have exceptions for close-in age differences but it varies widely. For example, in famously liberal Massachusetts we have a strict law, 16 years old with no exception, and even have a separate law for coercion if the person is under 18 and had been chaste until time of intercourse! So begging and pleading on prom night can lead to a set of metal bracelets instead of a night of fun.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime